Energy Lawyer Blog

"These grants will help America's businesses launch clean energy projects, putting Americans back to work in good construction and manufacturing jobs. The initiative will help double our renewable energy capacity over the next few years and make sure America leads the world in creating the clean energy economy of the future." With these words, US Department of Energy Secretary Steven Chu today announced that the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) had completed its first round of funding. The amount for this first round totaled $502 million and was awarded to programs throughout the nation. Although no projects in California were funded with this first round, the ARRA program is designed to support approximately 5000 renewable energy production facilities in the United States.

The program provides cash assistance in lieu of the Investment Tax Credit (ITC) to energy production companies. The first round of funding that was announced today will, according to the Obama administration, create approximately 2,000 jobs in the renewable energy industry. Most of the job creation will be in the construction and manufacturing sector. The purpose of the program is to provide upfront capital for companies in the renewable energy industry.

The Obama administration intends to help companies move forward with projects that could not have been realized due to a lack of direct funding.

In 2008, only 1.28% of the electricity generated in the United States was produced by wind turbines. This number, which was released by the American Wind Energy Association, compares to significantly higher numbers in European countries. Denmark's share of wind energy in the national energy mix is 20%. Energy produced by wind turbines is responsible for 9% of the electricity produced in Spain and 7% in Portugal and Germany.

Two U.S. Representatives from Minnesota (Collin Peterson and Tim Waltz) introduced a bill that has the potential to increase the wind energy share in the U.S. energy mix. The bill would make changes to the Renewable Energy Production Tax Credit (PTC). The PTC has been one of the most important tools for wind power project developers in the past. The bill would make the PTC even more valuable for new wind power project developments in California.

Continue reading "California Renewable Energy Project Developers Hope for Adoption of new Bill" »

Today the U.S. Department of Energy and the U.S. Department of the Treasury announced that it accepts applications for grants in lieu of investment tax credits (ITCs) or production tax credits (PTCs) not only for applicants in California but throughout the United States. With this announcement, the government is implementing section 1603 of the American Recovery and Investment Act of 2009 (ARRA) better known as the stimulus bill.

This provision allows applicants to claim a grant instead of ITCs and PTCs for certain renewable energy production facilities. With the direct payments ARRA aims at developing new jobs in the renewable energy sector as a means of helping the economy recover while advancing green energy development at the same time.

Renewable energy facilities that qualify for ITCs and PTCs are eligible for the ARRA grants. By allowing an immediate cash flow in form of a reimbursement of a portion of the renewable property expense instead of a tax credit, the ARRA acknowledges the lack of available financing for green energy projects. By accepting grants applicants forgo future tax credits which in the past covered parts of the cost for renewable energy projects.

Continue reading "Applications for California Project Grants in Lieu of ITCs and PTCs are Being Accepted " »

A new study on wind power potential world-wide indicates that previous estimates were inaccurate and that much more wind power may be available in California, the U.S. and the rest of the world. The study was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. A team of Harvard researchers evaluated data from meteorological stations from all over the world. The team estimated that the world wind power potential may be 40 times greater than the total current world power consumption. Previous studies have estimated the potential to be 7 times higher.

The study was widely cited in blogs and other publications. The New York Times Green, Inc. Blog also reported on the study.

For the United States the researchers found that there is potential to accommodate as much as 16 times the total current demand for power in the contiguous U.S. The findings of the researchers are significant since the U.S. Department of Energy released an estimate in 2008 concluding that wind power may not be able to provide more than 1/5 of the total U.S. electricity demand by the year of 2030.

An announcement made by U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Steven Chu is good news for the Wind Energy Industry in California. Chu revealed that 28 new wind energy projects across the country will receive up to $13.8 million in funding for wind energy turbine research and testing and transmission analysis, planning, and assessments. Chu identified wind energy as a critical factor in President Obama's plan to spur job growth by supporting clean energy projects.

On the same day as the announcement the DOE released the 2008 Wind Technologies Market Report. This report shows that the U.S wind energy industry is growing at a fast pace. The Market Report identifies the U.S. wind power market as the fastest growing wind power market for the fourth year in a row. Wind power remains the second largest new resource added to the grid (wind power contributed 42 percent of all new U.S. electrical generation capacity in 2008). There were more than 8,400 domestic manufacturing jobs added to the in the wind sector in California and the rest of the country last year.